Hockey almost didn't happen this weekend. We initially had scheduled for a Saturday session which according to the Internet was the better of the two days (damn you, Internet!). It turned out we didn't have the numbers for a session on Saturday; however, by Saturday afternoon the forecast for Sunday had been revised and called for less rain. I had made plans already for Sunday, and passed on the duty of setting up a session to Bernie et al. on Glasnost. Unfortunately they all seemed to be steadfast in the thought that a VRH session is just not a session if Klopp is not playing. After checking out the Emily Carr grad exhibit I made it home to bunch of less than favorable messages on Glasnost, and some razzing from Bernie on MSN and got guilted into blowing off my plans (probably why I am single) to setup a session. So I sent out a bunch of emails and text messages to people who had shown interest for a Sunday session over Saturday Friday evening and hoped for the best. My night ended around midnight chatting with Bernie. I told him the odds of a session were in my eyes about a 70% chance of happening. I told him I was heading to bed, he said he would likely follow suit. So next morning I find the message on Glasnost:
"sorry guys but I'm still up (can't seem to fall aslseep for some reason) so don't thik i'm making it to hockey... ya i know after all that i end up being one... ya i'm an asshole, a flower dress shopping asshole...not much more i can say." - Posted: 3 May 2009, 06:26 AM
What a bitch, not only does he guilt me into canceling my plans for Sunday, but then he decides to stay up until 6:30am checking out the new Spring catalog of summer dresses. Being fully pissed off from this I decided it was my mission to make hockey happen. Called Joern (just in time) and let him know that I thought hockey was still possible. We both took to the phones and rounded up the people. By 10:15am we knew we had the #'s and off we went to Ambleside.

OK, now that you are all filled in, let’s get to the actual hockey! So we start the session with a little 3 on 2 action. We have newcomer Pat Elischer and Rob with Lorne in net pitted against Stefan (yup, that's me) Oliver, Ryan and Joern. Midway through the session we are also joined by Steve who joined Pat's team. However they really didn't need him, as we soon found out why Pat is a Silver/Gold player in the VIHL. In the words of Don Cherry "He can dangle, he can score, who else, Bobby ..."- wait, what? Regardless, Pat dominated. Team Lorne ended up winning the game 5-2 with Pat scoring 4 of the 5 goals. The next game (with same teams) wasn't any more kind with Team Lorne winning again 5-2. This time more pressure was applied to Pat, however with Steve now in the mix this gave him and Rob a lot more room to pickup the slack. After the second game a team change was in order. Rob suggested trading me for Pat, which sounded like it could work. So we now had Lorne in net with Rob, Steve, and Stefan vs. Joern in net with Oliver, Ryan and Pat. The first game was won by Team Joern 5-3, with Pat and Oliver having some really nice chemistry. After that game Rob had to take off; however, just in time to fill his place, our second rookie of the session, Jamil Mithwani, showed up. We decided to try Arrow Lakers vs. Vancouverites (with Joern playing goal for Vancouver). So our next series featured Ryan, Pat, Jamil with Joern in net vs Stefan, Oliver, Steve and Lorne in goal. The teams were really well balanced and made for a really good best of 3 series. The first game went to sudden death overtime with Team Lorne winning out. The second game was won again by Team Lorne, this time 5-3. After this series Pat had to take off, which left us with uneven numbers. We attempted to do Steve, Stefan and Lorne take on Oliver, Jamil, Ryan and Joern. Out of the gates Team Lorne came storming and scored 2 quick goals. However, as the game continued to push on, the fatigue from playing with only 2 players was beginning to show for Team Lorne. It also didn't help that Stefan was skating on rims of his wheels at this point. At this point in the game Team Joern stormed back, scoring 3 goals. Midway through this game Jamil had to leave for work, which left things 2-2. After that Team Lorne then tied it back up, before Team Joern went back up again 4-3. One final burst of energy got team Lorne tied back up and put the series into sudden death; however, in the end, all attempts were futile, and Team Joern was able to finally close things out. To end things we finished with a shootout, which was probably one of the worst ever. 1 goal the entire thing, with most people being a little too lethargic to score (or you could chalk it up to fabulous goaltending). And so ends another fun session of Burton Hockey out in Ambleside Park. Thanks to the rookies for showing up, and hopefully we will be seeing them at future sessions!

Danke, Stef! A very impressive debut for Pat who immediately establishes himself as an elite player in Burton. Despite missing the final game, Pat takes first star in his first session with 12G-5A-17P on 51 shots. Steve would have been right there too had he played the entire first game, finishing with 6G-8A-14P on 39 shots. Instead, he shares second star with Stefan (10-4-14-50) and Oliver (9-5-14-39). Rob should also be acknowledged here, getting nine points despite only playing half the session. In goal, Lorne was again the story, stopping 114 shots en route to a stellar .844, right on his season average. Joern was also on his season average, stopping 106 shots and posting .797. And I officially bring back the Bitch Award and award it to Bernie for this session.
Here are the game results:
Pat Rob Steve Lorne def. Stefan Oliver Ryan Joern 5-2 5-2
Joern Oliver Ryan Pat def. Lorne Rob Steve Stefan 5-3
Stefan Oliver Steve Lorne def. Ryan Pat Jamil Joern 5-4 5-3
Jamil Ryan Oliver Joern def. Stefan Steve Lorne 5-4

Season Stats: The lack of BUSH sessions in the two weeks since Lee’s injury have helped Stefan reclaim the scoring lead by two points over Lee, 83-81. Oliver is within two points of Kyle for third, and Ryan is a point behind Troy for fifth. Rob moves into the top ten in ninth. Stefan shares the goal scoring lead with Lee at 45; Oliver moves up to fourth. Stefan moves two assists ahead of Lee to rank first, with Oliver moving to third and Ryan tied for fifth with Troy. Stefan completes his re-taking of all main offensive categories by passing Lee for first in shots. Ryan moves to third there; Oliver to fifth. Rob falls slightly behind Lorne in save percentage; Pat debuts right behind him in third. Lorne is just two saves behind Bron for second and four saves behind Shem for first; Joern isn’t far behind, either. With Jordan and Bernie absent, Ryan, Stefan and Oliver are now the only players to partake in every VRH game this season. Stefan has sole possession of first in three-star points over Lee; Oliver ties Kyle for third. At 3.40 PPG, Pat is the only VRH player in the top five in that category. Pat is the leader in GPG. Steve is fifth in APG and the highest ranking VRH player in that category. Pat also take the shots-per-game lead away from Kyle at 10.20. Joern passes Bron for fourth in saves-per-game. Lorne’s .844 ranks third in goaltending sessions this year; his 114 saves rank fifth.

On the all-time front: Stefan is three points behind Seamus for fourth all-time and four points away from 900. He becomes the fourth player to score 500 Burton goals. Oliver needs five assists for 800 and Stefan needs nine for 400. Stefan becomes the fourth player to make 2,500 shots-on-goal. Joern is seven games in net away from tying Nathan for third in games goaltended; he needs ten games in net for 200. Lorne needs five games in net for 100. Oliver ties Seamus for fourth in three-star points. Lorne passes Shem for seventh in saves-per-game. Stefan passes Seamus for third in ten-goal sessions with 23. Pat reaches ten goals and fifteen points for the first time in his first outing. Lorne has his third straight 80- and 90-save sessions, and has back-to-back 100- and 110-save sessions for the first time. Lorne joins Nathan and Bron as the only goalies to record back-to-back 100-save sessions. Stefan plays his 22nd consecutive session, Oliver his 15th, and Ryan his seventh. Bernie’s streak ends at five sessions.

SDF/GDF: Lorne’s tops on the SDF again for the ninth straight ranking. The biggest change sees Rob move from eighth to fifth ahead of Stefan. Terryn leads the GDF for the third time as Lorne moves up one position to fourth.

Check out those Records and Honours on the links page before you leave. What kind of sundress will Bernie wear to the next VRH session? Will it match his purse? We’ll find out next time!